Everyday Mystics I: The Flood

Some floods destroy. Others carry us somewhere we never expected to go. In the first episode of Everyday Mystics, Play Steinberg’s journey through grief, addiction, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and queer identity asks what it means to keep building an ark when the waters rise and whether the very thing that threatens to overwhelm us might also become a flood of love. When Moses turned and saw the bush that burned but was not consumed, it wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime miracle, it was a map. Maybe the bush had always been burning. It just took someone willing to turn, to notice, to say this is sacred ground. Everyday Mystics tells the real stories of people who have had that turning. Small, ordinary moments that cracked open into something larger. Their stories of transformation weave Jewish wisdom bringing forward an old/ new way of understanding mystical experience and the everyday. These are stories of when the ordinary becomes sacred, the familiar becomes mysterious, and Judaism becomes beautifully unbound. References [1] Play is an incredible artist, composer and teacher. Run don’t walk to their substack to read their current writings. Also, their comic, “Father. Mother. God.” is a gorgeous graphic comic about their relationship with their parents and the Divine. [2] Miriam begins by referencing the biblical story about the Flood in Genesis 6-9 [3] Play mentions their connection to Buddhist Sangha. Sangha means community of people who practice Buddhism. Typically this term is used to refer to a monastery, Buddhist objects/refuges, the fourfold community (laypeople, nuns and monks) or in Western society it tends to mean the group of people who meditate and study the dharma/Buddhist teachings together. [4] SO…. is Play Jewish, Christian, Buddhist? How can they be all the things at the same time? It all comes down to how one sees identity. Is it enough for you that Play is born Jewish? Do they need to be raised Jewish or practice Judaism to the exclusion of all other faiths? Not for Play. And not for us at Judaism Unbound, either. Play, like all of us, draws their practice from the multitude of life experiences, weaving and integrating them to form a life of meaning. Play, just happens to be exposed to a multitude of faith communities, and so their path is broader than most. [5] When Play says they don’t want to deny God three times and be like Peter, perhaps you had a different reference for a three fold denial of faith. In Judaism, we often hear that when a seeker chooses to convert, they must approach the rabbi on three separate occasions and be denied before being accepted into study for conversion. In this story - we hear seeking - Play denying that particular path to God, while also deeply striving for belonging and nearness to the Divine. [6] A church picnic on Tisha B’Av? Now, that’s nondualism. Tisha B’Av is a holy fast day in Jewish practice where we lament, sit on the floor, weep, read Ecclesiastes and mourn for the destruction of the Second Temple and the many martyrs and sufferings of the Jewish people. [7] Play talks about going to Divorce Camp. Divorce and Discovery was founded by Rabbi Deborah Newbrun as an act to reimagine the communal response and care for those going through divorce. You can learn more about the retreat here. For Jewish resources on divorce, you can read this ritual for separation, Judaism Your Way , Jews Get Divorce and The Adventure Rabbi offer direct support, and since you’re a podcast person, you might enjoy the podcast, The Jewish Divorce Podcast. [8] Play tells the story of the two sets of tablets. In the Talmud, Baba Batra 14b we read, “the broken fragments of the first tablets were placed in the Ark alongside the second whole tablets." This is a often taught as a symbol of God’s forgiveness and humility. In healing circles and communities, this is taught as a metaphor for our own lives, we carry both the broken and the whole with us. Each component is considered holy. [9] During the festival of Sukkot, we are commanded to build a Sukkah, a temporary shelter that is susceptible to the elements, where we can eat and sleep and be present to the physical realities of our internal life. An apt place for a personal revelation.